


childhood best friend (Teenage Menace)

by PeachyKeener



Series: Spider-Man and Co. (Trade Marks) [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Ambigous Ending, Flash Thompson Needs a Hug, Flash Thompson Redemption, Flash Thompson did bully Peter Parker, Harley is like, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oh, Peter just wants his friend back, Precious Peter Parker, a really good boyfriend who knows what his boyfriend needs, and his boyfriend needs his childhood best friend, anyway, flash thompson's dad is absuive, havent decided yet - Freeform, i have a lot of feelings abt flash thompson, might fuck around and make this a series, they were best friends once, tw abuse mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24447688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyKeener/pseuds/PeachyKeener
Summary: Peter Parker and Flash Thompson used to be best friends. Harley forces them back together.
Relationships: (future) Harry Osborn/Flash Thompson but like not even mentioned in this fic, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Harry Osborn & Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn & Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Series: Spider-Man and Co. (Trade Marks) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766755
Comments: 26
Kudos: 196





	childhood best friend (Teenage Menace)

**Author's Note:**

> So uhh I'm really proud of this. This is based on a lot of my personal headcannons and a lot fo my favorite ideas. I love the idea of Flash being Peter's childhood best friend. I pulled a lot from TASM for this fic, heads up.

Peter stared at his boyfriend. “Absolutely not.”  
  
“Peter Benjamin Parker,” Harley’s eyes narrowed and if this were any other conversation, Peter would lament on how pretty his boyfriend was when annoyed, “You absolutely will!”  
  
“He hates me!”  
  
“Euegene does not hate you!”  
  
“He does!”

Harley’s eyes narrowed more, “You’re an idiot.”  
  
“Maybe so,” He moved to his boyfriend, looping his arms around his waist, “But I’m your idiot- and I’m an idiot with self-preservation tactics.” 

“You need to talk to him sometime,” Harley’s voice was firm, leaving no room for argument, “And you two either do it of your own free will, or I will force you too.”  
  
Peter huffed. He didn’t know when Harley had become such good friends with Flash Thompson, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. Flash and him- they had a system worked out. Flash would bully Peter, Peter would take it without complaint, and on the anniversary of Ben’s death they’d both go to the grave and sit in silence. It wasn’t ideal but it worked. It worked so much better than anything else and Peter wasn’t about to ruin that balance. 

Especially because he knew that Flash did in fact hate him. Maybe he hadn’t when he and Peter were five, and playing in the playground sandbox together, but now he did. He had hated Peter since eighth grade. The only reprieve from hating Peter had been the month Ben died, when he hadn’t left Peter or May’s side and that- that was only because Benjamin Parker was just as important to Flash as he was to Peter, once. Other than that, Flash hated him. 

He shot his boyfriend a look, “Why can’t you just respect me on this?”  
  
“Because it’s hurting you,” Harley’s eyes were even firmer than his voice, “You may think that you and him have some angst coma that you both can’t get out of, but you’re just hurting yourself. And he’s hurting himself.”  
  
“I am not hurting myself by keeping myself away from my bully.”  
  
“Really, Peter?” He hated how Harley knew him better than he knew himself, because now that he was thinking about it, avoiding Flash did just make him feel worse, “Because I think you’re hurting yourself by keeping yourself away from your childhood best friend.”  
  
“But that was all it was!” He pulled away from Harley to look away, “A childhood friendship.”  
  
His boyfriend’s silence met him. 

It wasn’t like he was wrong. He missed interacting with Flash. He had started avoiding him because all of the Avengers had told him to just avoid his bullies. But was Flash really a bully? Unlike the people that shoved him into the locker, or tried to punch him around, all Flash did was make fun of him. Hell, even Penis Parker wasn’t a real insult- not that anyone but him and Flash knew the story behind it. Even then, the Avengers told him the best way to deal with bullies was to just not give them the power. The only way he could never give Flash the power was to not see him. So he avoided him. 

“It was just a childhood friendship,” He told himself more than Harley, “I don’t need to see him or talk to him anymore because that friendship’s dead.”  
  
Harley was still silent. Peter continued, “Does it sting that it’s dead? Yeah- it does. But it’s dead. I can’t fix something he’s not willing to try to fix. And- and I don’t even know what I did to start making him hate me.”  
  
“You didn’t do anything,” Harley murmured, pulling Peter close to him, then guiding them so he was sitting and Peter was in his lap, “Flash has a lot going on. And that’s why you need to talk to him.”  
  
“I _tried_ ,” He wanted to keep the bitterness out of his voice but he didn’t know how, “I tried to talk with him all of eighth grade and all of ninth. He was my _best friend,_ Harley. He was my _only_ friend when Harry left for France in fifth. I- he knew everything about me, and I knew everything about him. And I missed him for so so long, Harley.”  
  
Harley rubbed his back softly, whispering into his shoulder, “You still miss him?”  
  
“Of course I still miss him,” He tried not to let his voice get choked up but he couldn’t. This was the worst topic he had ever faced, “Of course I still miss him. You- Harley, me and him met when we were a month old. Our parents were friends- and after mine passed he was the only kid who stuck by me, even when I was depressed and wouldn’t talk. He- he learned sign language because of me. Because I couldn’t find my voice. So yes, Harley, I miss him.  
  
“I miss how he knew all the lines to star wars but would only say Luke’s,” The memories rushed over him, “I miss how he always knew what to say when I was sad. I miss how he would bake cookies with May when I was having a bad day because he knew that I needed him but I didn’t want to see anyone. I miss how he would play video games would me. I miss how much we cared about each other- we were _more_ than friends. We were _brothers._ Yes, I miss him.”  
  
He let out a shuddering breath he didn’t know he was holding and pulled back to see Harleys eyes. They were sad and blue and beautiful and rimmed with tears, “You don’t have to miss him. You can get him back. He’s still your brother.”  
  
“That’s the worst part of it all,” Peter felt his eyes sting too, and he pressed his face into Harley’s hair, “I know he’s still my brother. Because every time the anniversary of Ben’s death comes around he’s _there_ . The first day back to school after he died-” His voice choked, “The first day I came back to school after Ben’s death I almost punched Flash, but he pulled me into a hug and told me he _understood._ Do you know how much that helped? Hearing that someone was there? Everyone had told me that they were sorry for my loss, and sorry that it happened, and everyone was sorry- except him. He _understood._ He got it. And I was so angry- and he _let_ me be angry. Everyone wanted me to cry- even May- but he let me be _angry_ that someone I love had been taken from me. That’s how I knew he was still my brother.”

Harley was crying too now, and Peter knew it was just because he was crying. They sat there in silence for a little bit, crying because it hurt. All of this hurt. It hurt more than anything. 

“If…if I get him to agree to talk, will you take it seriously?” 

He didn’t mean for his voice to come out as begging, “Yes. Yes I will. If he wants to talk, I’ll put my all into making it better.”  
  
“Okay,” Harley kissed his tears away gently, “Okay. Leave it to me.”  
  
Peter kissed his boyfriend softly, pressing into him, and whispering into the hollow of his throat, “I really miss him.”

  
  


This was a waste of his time. He knew it wasn’t going to work the second that Harley left and he and Flash sat in a tense silent in his living room. It had started fine-ish. But then it developed into more of the usual. Even when they were trying to communicate it didn’t seem to work and he couldn’t take it. 

Peter stood, turning on his feet, “You know what, I’m leaving- I’m getting out of here-”

“Wait,” Flash’s voice was heavy and weak with all the fight it previously held drained out of it, and he clutched at Peter’s wrist like a lifeline, “Wait.”

Peter wanted to cry, and felt his eyes stinging, “Tell me why I should wait, Flash? I didn’t even want to talk in the first place- I was doing this for Harley.”  
  
“You’re lying,” And his voice told Peter all that he needed to know. He turned back to Flash and felt like he had been stabbed because Flash was crying, silent tears running down his face, “You did this for the same reason I did. You did this because you missed me.”  
  
“Please don’t cry,” The words blurted out of him, “Flash- please don’t cry.” 

That was the wrong to say, because just like that Flash collapsed into loud, angry sobs, curling into himself and tearing at his hair, “I’m sorry- god, Peter- I’m so sorry- I’m so so sorry-”  
  
“I forgive you,” He slid down next to Flash, and wrapped his arms around him, “I forgive you.”  
  
“You _shouldn’t_ forgive me,” Flash sobbed, leaning into him, “I’m a horrible person- I’m so fucking bad- I’m so fucking bad- I should just die- I’m not worth anything- I’m so sorry-”  
  
And just like that Peter was crying as hard as flash, “No- _No-_ I can’t lose you too, ‘Genie, I can’t- I can’t lose you too.”  
  
“But I deserve to die,” he pressed his face harder into Peter’s shoulder, and sobbed roughly, “Peter, you don’t understand-”  
  
“Then help me too!” he sobbed, wrapping his arms even tighter around Flash, “Help me understand, ‘Genie.”  
  
They sat like that, clutching at each other, and heaving sobs for what felt like forever. They sat there, feeling overwhelmed and sad and depressed in Peter’s living room for what felt like hours. And they weren’t 17 year old boys who had faced the world and lost anymore. They were Peter and Flash, the same five year olds that cried when Harry punched the mean kid on the playground. They were Flash and Peter, saying goodbye to their only other friend and whispering that they still had each other. They were Peter and Flash, brothers by choice.

Finally, after forever had finally passed, Flash pulled back and wiped up his tears and let out a shaky breath, “I- do you remember how my dad was always kind of mean?”  
  
“Yeah,” He whispered, still trying to get himself under control, “He never let us play at your house and he didn’t like Ben.”  
  
“Yeah, and- and how could anyone not like Ben?” Flash powered through, picking his hands like he did when he was five, “He- he got laid off when we were in eighth grade. He got a better job eventually but- but he got laid off when we were in eighth grade and he started drinking.”  
  
Peter’s gut dropped. He already knew what had happened, “Why- why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“Because I _couldn’t,”_ Flash finally looked at him, and his eyes and voice were pleading, begging, “I couldn’t. How do you tell someone you’re being beat? How do you face your best friend since childhood and admit you’re being _hurt?_ I- Peter I _couldn’t_ do it! I tried to- I tried to find a way to tell you, but I couldn’t. And he never hit anywhere that was obvious because he’s not _stupid_ and I didn’t know how to bring it up!”  
  
“But you could’ve,” Peter whispered, pulling him closer, “You could’ve told me.”  
  
“No Peter, I don't think I could’ve.”  
  
“Why couldn’t you have?”  
  
“Because at the same time my father started hitting me, you were getting more friends,” Flash whispered, pressing his face into Peter’s shoulder again, like he was four and they were watching horror movies on Halloween, “You suddenly had Ned and Michelle and all these people and- and they were always comparing us. Suddenly, I wasn’t Flash. I was Peter _and_ Flash. A unit. And I couldn’t take that. Especially when my mom-” he choked, and Peter rubbed his back, “My mom started asking me why I wasn't as good as you. And I was so _angry,_ Peter.” 

“Oh,” He felt like he had been punched again, “Flash- you were always as good as me.”  
  
“But I’m not. I wasn’t. I’m not as good as you.”  
  
“Yes you-”  
  
“A good person doesn't bully,” Flash’s voice was loud and anguished, “A good person doesn’t get so angry he can’t breathe. A good person doesn’t get as angry as I do. A good person doesn’t lash out like I do. You were _always_ better than me. I was just too dumb to see it.”  
  
Peter swallowed, “No, ‘m not. Because I get just as angry. I- I lash out in my own ways. I get angry enough where I can’t breath. When I think of Ben. When I think of what happened to him. When I think of Harry’s dad. When I think of Harley’s ex-boyfriend. When I think of all the things that have gone wrong in my life. I get so, so angry. And you’re the _only_ person who sees that sometimes. You're the _only one_ who knows what’s that like.”  
  
“I missed you,” Flash whispered to him, clutching Peter in a hug, “It’s why I started to bully you. Because I- I needed you- but I couldn’t, Peter.”  
  
“I wish you could’ve told me.”  
  
“I tried to tell Ben, once,” The news hit Peter like a punch, and just like that he was gutted again, “I tried to tell Ben that it was happening. And- and I just couldn’t get the words out. So I just started crying- and you know Ben. You know how he worked. He just pulled me into a hug and took me to his art studio and he painted with me for hours. I tried to tell him about my dad and my mom but I couldn’t find the words. When- when I got back, my father-” 

He swallowed. Peter didn’t want to hear what happened when Flash got back, but he could guess. He could guess and he was so, so angry at himself for not knowing. For not helping Flash. 

Flash just breathed out, “That’s when I knew I could never let myself be weak again. I could never let myself slip up like that.”  
  
“Is,” Peter’s voice cracked, “Is that when you decided to stop being friends with me?”  
  
“Yeah,” Flash admitted slowly, sniffing, “I couldn’t face you because- well, I was always safe with you. I was never safe anywhere else, but I knew I was always safe at the Parker residence. I knew I was safe and when I was safe I was weak and when I was weak my father could tell and it would hurt. It would hurt so bad. So I couldn’t talk to you or be around you because I couldn’t let myself be safe again.”

Peter felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Flash couldn’t let himself be safe because he would get hurt if he did. He breathed out, “So you avoided me all summer of eighth grade, and then ninth grade-”  
  
“I couldn’t handle not seeing you,” Flash whispered, “So I started bullying you- and I- I’m _so sorry_ Peter. I know that doesn’t make it better, and I hurt you, and I’m so-”  
  
“You didn’t hurt me,” He threw his arms back around flash, “I never took anything you said seriously- I mean, come on, your nickname for me was an inside joke.”  
  
His pathetic attempt to get Flash to laugh worked, “Penis Parker- I didn’t think you’d get it.”  
  
“How could I not? Only you know that story.”

“But I still bullied you-”  
  
“No, you didn’t,” He kept his voice firm and held his friend a little tighter, “You lashed out at me because I was the person you felt safest lashing out at. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you avoided bullying other students. Don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to not join in on the bullying of other students. It was just me. I was the person that you felt safest being mad at. And that’s okay.”  
  
“No,” Flash wrapped his arms around Peter, “It’s not okay.” 

“You’re right, it’s not okay,” Peter admitted, but relaxed as Flash hugged him back, “But we can make it okay.”  
  
“Are you sure you want to still be my friend?”  
  
“I’ve been missing my brother for four years,” he said firmly, thinking of how the first two years of missing Flash was the hardest, “Don’t try to get out of me getting him back now.”  
  
Flash nodded and whispered slowly, “I missed you too. I missed you so fucking mcuh, Peter.”

“You’re my brother, Eugene,” he pulled back to meet his eye, “You’ve been my brother since we were barely a month old.”  
  
“We have known each other all our lives,” Flash laughed slightly and wiped at his tears again, “It’s weird to think about it. Especially because of the past four years.”  
  
“Nah, it’s not,” He leaned into his friend and said softly, “Brothers fight. We’re allowed to fight. That doesn’t mean we’re not brothers.”  
  
“Whatever, dork,” He felt him hesitate, “Would…I haven’t watched Star Wars in four years. I doubt I know any of the lines.”  
  
Peter pulled away to give him a serious look, “We fought so you stopped having a crush on Luke?”  
  
“No way,” he shook his head, and a grin found his way to his face, and he looked so much younger than Peter had seen him look these past few years, “Mark Hamill is still the pretty boy of my dreams. I just haven't gotten around to watching it _every weekend.”_

“Leave me alone! That’s a healthy amount to watch Star Wars!”  
  
“No it is not, you _dweeb-”_

There are some friendships, Peter thought as he and Flash started to bicker and it felt like they were ten again, that will always be there. Even as time goes by, they stay strong. Ben may be dead, and Harry may be in France, and the world may have crumbled around them. Flash may have made mistakes, and Peter may have let him. But even with all of this, their friendship wouldn’t die. 

It was more than just their childhood. It was them- they were always going to be there for each other. 

They were Peter and Flash. They were Flash and Peter. 

They were there for each other. 

They were brothers.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked it!
> 
> And if you did, should I make this a series featuring Flash x Harry, more Parkner, and more relationships? I have an idea in mind for Peter struggling w seeing Tony as a father figure bc he had a father figure and that father figure DIED. but i wanna know if i should make this a series??
> 
> Hit me up at Peachy-keener on tumblr!!


End file.
